 |
| JosephFinder.com Newsletter |
June 2007
|
| |
|
|
|
|
The POWER PLAY Trailer
|
 |
Big surprise, I know, but I love thrillers in all forms: novels, movies, TV (although I have issues with this last season of “24,” but don’t get me started).
Thinking about ways to promote POWER PLAY, the idea of a movie-style trailer seemed not only obvious, but exciting and challenging. Could a 400-page novel (okay, 384 pages) be distilled into 90 seconds?
I’m a writer, not a filmmaker, so I enlisted some high-level talent to help. Award-winning Boston filmmaker Ed Slattery used high-definition video to create a realistic setting, and my friend Michael Moss, a Grammy-nominated composer, scored it and composed the music. Ed and Mike have recently founded a company to produce trailers for books –- TrailerPix. I wanted a recognizable voice for the narration, and was lucky enough to get Will Lyman, narrator of many “Nova” and “Frontline” episodes as well as the voice of BMW in the United States.
And now it’s done. Check it out online here, tell all your friends, and feel free to share it on YouTube.
If you prefer your previews the old-fashioned way, the first excerpt of POWER PLAY is now up on my website – click here to read it. Let me know what you think at joe@josephfinder.com!
|
|
|
Pre-Order POWER PLAY and Get FREE Stuff!
|
As you already know if you’ve watched the trailer, POWER PLAY is now available for pre-order through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and fine booksellers everywhere, in hardcover or audiobook formats.
If you’re willing to take a chance on POWER PLAY even before its publication date, I’d like to send you a gift in appreciation: a set of POWER PLAY Post-It® notes and your choice of a KILLER INSTINCT paperback or this cool POWER PLAY miniature flashlight (just over 3 1/2" long x 1/2" round).
Just e-mail your electronic receipt, along with your complete mailing list, to my assistant, Claire, at Claire@josephfinder.com. Thanks for your support!
|
|
Read more about KILLER INSTINCT here.
|
|
|
The Tour (A Preview)
|
 |
The clock’s ticking, and I’m still scrambling to finalize the dates and places for the POWER PLAY tour. At least now, however, I can give you a little more information, though some gaps remain. Please check the “Appearances” link page of my website for updates. In addition to these confirmed dates and times, I’ll be stopping in Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky; Cincinnati, Ohio; and North Kansas City, Missouri.
This year I’m trying something a little different –- in addition to bookstores, I’ll be making a few appearances in casinos. A little roulette, a couple of drinks, and a good book?
Before the tour begins, I’m honored to be part of a special fundraiser for the MAB Recording Studio for the Blind, hosted by my friend Norman Lang. MAB Community Services is dedicated to working with individuals with disabilities to eliminate barriers and create opportunities. The fundraiser, scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on Monday, August 20 at the University of Massachusetts Club, will celebrate the release of POWER PLAY as well as raise needed funds for rent, supplies and staff coordination. For information on how to contribute, and how to obtain an invitation to the event, call Cynthia Canham at 617-732-0245 or send her an e-mail at ccanham@mabcommunity.org.
If you live anywhere in the region of one of my appearances and you’d like to get a postcard reminding you (or notifying you) about the event, please e-mail your complete mailing address to my assistant at Claire@josephfinder.com, with “Event notification” as the subject line. Bring the postcard to the event to receive a free POWER PLAY flashlight, for being such a loyal reader!
If you don’t live near one of my tour stops, or you can’t make it to an event, call any of these bookstores in advance to order a personalized copy. Next month I’ll publish a list of independent bookstores that will also have signed copies of POWER PLAY available.
Tuesday, August 21 at 7:00 p.m.
Boston, Massachusetts – The POWER PLAY launch!
Borders Books & Music – Back Bay
511 Boylston Street
Boston, MA
617-236-1444
Friday, August 24 at 7:00 p.m.
Lexington, Kentucky
Joseph Beth Booksellers
161 Lexington Green Circle
Lexington, KY 40503
800-248-6849
www.josephbeth.com
Saturday, August 25 at 2:00 p.m.
Dayton, Ohio
Books and Co.
4453 Walnut Street
Beavercreek, OH 45440
937-429-2169
www.booksandco.com
Sunday, August 26
Cincinnati, Ohio
Location to come
Monday, August 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Denver, Colorado
The Tattered Cover -- Colfax Avenue
2526 E. Colfax Ave.
Denver, CO 80206
303-322-7727
www.tatteredcover.com
Tuesday, August 28 at 7:00 p.m.
Boulder, Colorado High Crimes Bookstore
946 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO 80302
(303) 443-8346
www.highcrimesbooks.com
Wednesday, August 29 (time to be announced)
Kansas City, Missouri
Harrah’s North Kansas City
Convention Center
One Riverboat Drive
North Kansas City, MO
Thursday, August 30 at 7:00 p.m.
Kansas City, Missouri
Rainy Day Books
2706 W. 53rd St.
Fairway, KS 66205
913-384-3126
Friday, August 31
Atlanta, Georgia
AJC Decatur Book Festival
Decatur, GA
Sunday, September 2 at 11:00 a.m.
Cherokee, North Carolina
High Roller Brunch
Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Hotel
777 Casino Drive
Cherokee, NC
http://www.harrahs.com/casinos/harrahs-cherokee/hotel-casino/property-home.shtml
Friday, September 7 (time to be announced)
Newburyport, MA
Jabberwocky Books
50 Water Street
Newburyport, MA 01950
978-465-9359
www.jabberwocky.indiebound.org
|
Read more about POWER PLAY here.
|
|
|
Looking for Recommendations: Boston Songs?
|
|
I’m putting together a playlist for my tour appearances -- up-tempo songs that showcase my hometown of Boston. I’ve got “Dirty Water,” “Sweet Caroline,” and several choices from Guster, but what else should I include on my playlist?
What songs or bands say “Boston” to you –- other than, of course, Boston? Send your recommendations to Webmistress Clair at info@josephfinder.com, and we’ll send you a set of POWER PLAY Post-It® notes. When I’ve decided on the playlist, I’ll post it to the website and to my MySpace page (www.myspace.com/josephfinder).
|
|
|
My New Assistant
|
|
You may already have noticed that my assistant has a new name and a new e-mail address. My former assistant, Sarah Blodgett, has moved on to focus on her own business. I wouldn’t know what to do without her, except that my new assistant, Claire Baldwin, has hit the ground running.
A London native, Claire grew up in Chelsea and came to New York in 1976. When she’s not organizing my life, her favorite things to do are: throwing endless tennis balls for her black lab, Oakley; giggling on the phone with her girls; driving around with her husband, Jay, in his beloved '79 International Scout on a sunny day; listening to Coldplay, Steely Dan, Coffee Break Spanish on her iPod; and watching “Weeds,” “Entourage,” “The Sopranos” and especially the British series “MI5” on BBC America. Claire says, “I knew for sure I wanted to work for Joe when I read PARANOIA before my first interview -- Adam Cassidy kept me laughing out loud, and I knew whoever invented him had to be okay.” Whew.
Now, my assistant Claire is not to be confused with Webmistress Clair, who has no "e" at the end of her name and does not have the cool British accent. I’m trying to simplify my life, so perhaps the next person I hire will be named Clare…
|
|
|
My Latest Fanboy Moment
|
|
Before I go, I have to share the coolest thing that happened to me this month. Sometimes it takes me a while to respond to e-mails, but I read them all as they come in –- and so, when I received an e-mail from a new fan who'd just read KILLER INSTINCT and loved it, I had to read the signature twice –- and then a third time. The new fan was Judy Collins. She invited me to come to one of her sold-out performances at the Cafe Carlyle in NYC and meet her.
Judy Collins, for real?
Hmmm . . . I was convinced this was a prank, a practical joke pulled on me by one of my friends who know how much I love Judy Collins's voice and her songs. I mean, "Send in the Clowns?" "Amazing Grace?” "Someday Soon?" So, hoping this was Ms. Collins and not one of my brothers or sisters playing a cruel joke, I replied . . . and she replied . . . and then she called . . . and then my wife and I went to New York and had dinner at the Carlyle and then heard Judy perform both some of the classics and some new renditions of Lennon/McCartney songs.
And then she and her husband Louis and my wife Michele and I hung out and got to know each other. She's a beautiful and smart and very deep person, and we hit it off right away. And all the time, I'm thinking, YOU'RE a fan of MINE? C'mon.
| | |
